James Patterson Donates 45,000 Books to New York Schools

It is reported that best-selling author, James Patterson will donate 45,000 copies of his books for young readers to New York students. Chancellor Carmen Farina of New York Schools said that sixth-grade students in more than 300 schools will be offered the books.

In January, 2010, The New York Times Magazine featured James Patterson on its cover and hailed him as having "transformed book publishing," and that Time magazine hailed him as "The Man Who Can't Miss." Recently, NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams profiled Patterson's prolific career, AARP named him one of the "50 Most Influential People Who Make Our Days a Little Brighter," and Variety featured him in a cover story highlighting his adventures in Hollywood.

In 2011, it was estimated that one-in-four of all hardcover suspense/thriller novels sold was written by James Patterson, he is the first author to achieve ten million ebook sales, and he holds the Guinness record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers of any author. And his success isn't based solely on thrillers like the perennially popular Alex Cross,Women's Murder Club and Michael Bennett series. Patterson is now also the current bestselling author in the young adult and middle grade categories.

He's been called the busiest man in publishing, and that's not just because of his own books. For the past decade, James has been devoting more and more of his time to championing books and reading.

From the James Patterson Pageturner Awards, to hiswebsite ReadKiddoRead.com, to his College Book Bucks scholarships and his regular donations of hundreds of thousands of books to schools here in the states and troops overseas (see interviews onFox & Friends, The Dennis Miller Radio Show andCNN.com), Patterson has passed on his passion of books and reading and supported those who do the same. Jim personally funded a major ad campaign re-printing a recent opinion piece on CNN.com about how it is our responsibility to get our kids reading. The ad has run in the New York Times, The New Yorker, and USA Today. Those ads are a call to action to parents to make their kids reading a top priority; and were featured by USA Today here. Patterson believes that we cannot rely on schools, teachers or the government to get our kids reading; only parents can make this crucial change in the reading habits of our kids. Here are links to some interviews on his first-ever dual laydown (two books, one for parents and one for kids, in one day): AOL's You've Got, NBC's "Today Show" with Hoda and Kathie Lee, USA Today and Family Circle, NBC's "Today Show" with Al Roker, as well as an interview with AARP.

James and Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade host a webcast for kids, parents and educators called ONE ON ONE: Fundamentals with Dwyane Wade and James Patterson. In collaboration with NBA Cares, the Wade's World Foundation, ReadKiddoRead and Hachette Book Group, ONE ON ONE highlights the importance of reading for success in life. The webcast is available free of charge to schools, libraries, and for home viewing via www.JamesPattersonEvents.com.

ReadKiddoRead.com is a website designed to help parents, teachers, and librarians ignite the next generation's excitement about reading by recommending books carefully chosen for their ability to make kids' mouths water-books kids can really sink their teeth into.

The site features: thoughtful book reviews, a lively Facebook community network, messages from James, opportunities to win free books, and contributions from other authors and celebrities who believe in the importance of getting kids excited about reading.

Each year, ReadKiddoRead hosts the Kiddo Awards: the very best books of the year that get kids excited about reading. And, fans of ReadKiddoRead look forward to its annual summer reading list, which releases early May.

James's College Book Bucks program has given out over $170,000 in book shopping sprees over the past three years. High school seniors headed for college answer the question "How has your favorite book inspired you toward what you'd like to do in life?" The best essays are awarded with money towards college texts, for use at Indiebound-affiliated stores of their choosing.

Middle School Book Bucks is a new program, starting in June of 2013. Kids who pledge to read at least four books will be entered to win a book shopping spree at an Indiebound-affiliated bookstore of their choice.

James has donated a box of books to every school in the Palm Beach County, New York City, Savannah, and Los Angeles Unified School Districts-over 400 schools!

He has also donated over 200,000 books to soldiers at home and overseas.